MOST people struggle to organize the perfect wedding day – but for Sonia Gupta, her divorce was the ideal excuse to throw a party.
The 47-year-old mother, from east London, celebrated the end of her marriage with a £5,000 divorce party, which featured a bouncy castle and personalized cocktails.
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Saving nothing, the Red BridgeThe mother-of-two organized a unicorn-themed bouncy castle and cake, also paying for a bar serving a personalized menu and drinks such as “it’s a Sonia gin” and “absolute decree”.
To celebrate the big day, Sonia also wore a “finally divorced” sash and invited a whopping 150 guests, including friends and family.
The fun party also inspired Sonia to help those going through divorce or relationship breakdown, My London reported.
The mother-of-two, who works in business development operations, said: “It was to celebrate my new life. It’s all about me.”
The delighted divorcee had an arranged marriage in India almost two decades ago in 2005, but just a few years later realized she wasn’t happy.
Despite her emotions, Sonia continued to live in the same house as her then-husband for a decade while trying to get counseling and financial support.
It felt like I was trapped in a prison
Sonia Gupta
Sonia said: “I wasn’t the best version of myself. It felt like I was trapped in a prison.”
She added that people “haven’t been there for 10 years” because of the bad atmosphere in their homes.
The unhappy couple finally filed for divorce in 2018 and the process was finalized in March 2021.
Although Sonia wanted to throw a party to celebrate her new freedom, she was unable to hold the party until September 2021 – due to COVID-19 restrictions in place.
The mother-of-two estimates she spent £5,000 on the big day – which also included hiring a bouncy castle for her two children, now aged 13 and 19, as well as food and drink.
The London-based divorcee, who called the day “it’s a Sonia thing”, said: “I’m a loud and outgoing person.
“Not many people get to celebrate themselves.”
For the special occasion, Sonia also had a DJ and a motto on the wall that said ”I love the person I became because I fought to be her”.
According to the 47-year-old, people called her story “inspiring” and it even led her to open her mentoring business – called “it’s Sônia’s thing” – in 2023.
UK divorce statistics
In 2022, there were 80,057 divorces in England and Wales – 78,759 were opposite-sex divorces and 1,298 were same-sex couples, data from Agile Fins revealed.
This represents a 51.5% decrease since 1993, the year with the highest number of divorces, when a staggering 165,018 marriages ended in divorce.
The mother offers one-on-one sessions to help empower those going through a divorce and speaks at events.
Sharing her story, Sonia said she also hopes to normalize divorce – particularly in Indian culture.
She said: “I support people and help them be impartial. It’s important for people to celebrate themselves and embrace their new beginning.”
Sonia also encourages others going through a divorce to “own your journey,” joking, “This is the story of how one party changed my life.
“This means that these years were not wasted. There is life after divorce.”
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
